CANON 49: OF PROPOSED ALTERATIONS TO CANONS – Anglican Church of Southern Africa

Amended by Provincial Synod 2021

Introductory Note

The Constitution and Canons of this Church are living instruments that are continuously applied throughout the Province and, in so doing, may be deemed from time to time by Provincial Synod to be in need of change of one kind or another. The canonical provisions in relation to any such process are set out in this Canon.

1. Amendment of Constitution or Canons

(a) No Article of the Constitution or canons of this Church shall be liable to alteration, amendment, or repeal, and no new Article of the Constitution or canon shall be added at any future Provincial Synod, unless formal notice of such proposed alteration, amendment, repeal or addition shall have been notified to the Metropolitan at least five months before the day fixed for the opening of such Synod. All such notices shall consist of two parts:
(i) A statement of the reasons why such alterations are desirable, and
(ii) The precise alterations proposed.
(b) All such notices shall be communicated by the Metropolitan not less than three months before the meeting of the Provincial Synod to all the diocesan bishops for the information of those who shall represent their several dioceses at that Synod.

2. Amendment of the Constitution

(a) No formal notice for the alteration, amendment or repeal of any portion of the Constitution shall be received unless it proceeds out of a resolution of the House of Bishops, the Provincial Synod, a Diocesan Synod, the Provincial Standing Committee, or a duly constituted provincial or diocesan board.

(b). No formal notice for the alteration, amendment or repeal of a canon shall be received unless it proceeds out of a resolution of the House of Bishops, Provincial Synod, the Provincial Standing Committee, a committee or commission of Provincial Synod or a Diocesan Synod, council, board, committee or commission, or is accompanied by a declaration signed by a diocesan bishop or three diocesan representatives to Provincial Synod.

3. Amendment of Wording in Motions

It is competent for the Provincial Synod to amend, modify or adopt in part the wording of any such formal notice of a new canon, or the wording of any such formal notice of the alteration, amendment, repeal of or addition to any existing canon, and to reject any such wording in whole or in part; and further to substitute new wording, so long as no new subject matter is introduced of which five months’ notice has not been given.

4. Date of Validity of New Canons

All Canons of the Church of this Province shall be in force two months from the date of the authentication and promulgation of the same, which shall always be made immediately before the dissolution of the Synod.

Amendment by Resolution for emergency purposes

Should it at any time be impossible, for reasons beyond the control of this Church, to give proper effect to any of the Articles of the Constitution or the Canons and it further be impracticable to convene Provincial Synod, then the process set out below in this Canon may be applied:

(a) The Metropolitan, after consultation with the Metropolitan’s Executive appointed under Canon 21(4), may in terms of Canon 3 summon the Bishops of this Province to a Synod of Bishops to be held in person or virtually at such time and place as the Metropolitan may determine.

(b) At such Synod the Bishops may by a Resolution passed by not less than three quarters of the Bishops present and voting, waive compliance with a procedure laid down by an Article or a Canon and alter the same, but only to such extent as may be necessary in the circumstances to give effect to the intent of the Article or Canon.

(c) The Resolution aforesaid shall be of force for such time as may be specified in the Resolution, but in any event no longer than the closure of the next Session of Provincial Synod.

(d) The Resolution shall be laid before the next meeting of the Provincial Standing Committee for information and the next Session of Provincial Synod for ratification by such Synod. Should Provincial Synod not ratify such Resolution, this failure will not affect any decision or action taken thereunder, provided such decision or action has been properly taken in accordance with this Canon, read with the first proviso to Article II of the Church’s Constitution.